Russian patrol aircraft were spotted off the coasts of the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea on Friday, the country’s Joint Staff reported, prompting Japan to scramble fighter jets.
According to a brief statement from the Joint Staff, two aircraft went down the coastline between central and southern Japan, into the Tsushima Strait, and back the same way.
Fighter jets from Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force “were scrambled in response,” it claimed. In May, the military also sent out airplanes to intercept Russian spy planes.
The decision was made just before Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Friday summit with US Vice President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David.
The presidents will consent to annual trilateral meetings, a new three-way crisis hotline, frequent military drills, and other measures. Japan has warned of the threat presented by Russia and backed its partners in the West in condemning Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Its most recent security statement, which previously urged improved ties and collaboration with Russia, now expresses alarm over Moscow’s combined military exercises with China.
The two nations performed their cooperative naval drills in the Sea of Japan last month, and in June they jointly patrolled the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.
According to the Joint Staff, Japan’s planes were called into action 778 times in 2022, including 150 times against Russia, the lowest total since 2013.
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